The Prometheus Legend: Reg's Journey to the Engineer Homeworld
by Spaceflight101
Summary: This is what Reg's experience might have looked like. Since no canon exists for a sequel to Prometheus, it's all a guess. Enjoy.
1. Chapter 1

"Reg's Adventure"

Since a sequel to "Prometheus" is sometime in the future, I have no established series canon to work from. Therefore, what you are about to read is based upon what canon does exist for both "ST:TNG" and "Prometheus".

With how the final chapters of "The Prometheus Legend" concluded, you might have wondered just what exactly happened when Reg "borrowed" a Juggernaut to travel to the Engineer's homeworld.

Well, here's what happened...

Chapter One: "Here We Go!"

Reg stayed up all night tossing and turning in his quarters. He knew that what he thought about doing was very dangerous and probably detrimental to his Star Fleet career, but there was this nagging little voice, or rather, a pair of voices.

You see, Reg was in one of those "good angel, bad angel" debates, with one voice telling him everything that COULD go wrong while the other was telling him to follow his heart and do what he knew was the right thing to do.

"These Engineers remind me of the bullies that used to push me around in school", one voice said.

"So what? You're way smarter than they are and you have a lot of protective weaponry with you."

"Yes, but it's only been tested in simulations, not in the real world!"

"But you're a Star Fleet officer! Those knuckleheads are still at home running loaders and tending bar."

On the other hand, as Tevye ("Fiddler On The Roof") would say, there were larger things to consider.

Reg smiled as he considered that for as many times as he liked to say "on the other hand", Tevye must have been a cephalopod.

Reg gathered up a few things he believed that he'd need...six weeks worth of water, food, traveling clothes, his personal log, a music player, and toilet paper.

Toilet paper?

And clean underwear...his mother had told him many, many times to always wear clean underwear because you just never knew.

He walked into the transporter room and greeted the overnight technician. "I'm going to run a diagnostic before we return to the surface today. Why don't you get some breakfast and I'll take it until your relief arrives?"

Since Reg had woken the tech from a sound sleep, and since he greatly appreciated Reg not reporting him to his watch commander, he thanked him and left the room.

Reg beamed into the empty, cold vessel and quickly scanned around...there was no one there, the four hypersleep chambers were empty, and there was no trace of the mutagenic pathogen that they'd found aboard the vessel on the surface. "This could work", he thought.

He pushed the four "buttons" that activated the chair, then with his digital music player played the notes David and Data had played to activate the bridge controls. Lights came on all over the vessel's interior and the life support system began processing the ship's atmosphere, musty and stale after over 2250 years.

He touched the holographic globe and the floor opened up as the ship's "captain's chair" rose up out of the floor. "This is the point of no return", he thought. "A leap of faith..."

He climbed up into the chair, got in, and looked at the controls and how they were arranged. "Good thing I'm relatively tall", he thought. "I wonder how Elizabeth and David managed to do this?"

He pressed the control that activated the holographic star maps, and was still in awe at their beauty. Astrometrics had its own certain artistic quality to it, charting routes around stellar hazards and phenomena, compensating for galactic drift and rotation within the galaxy and the larger universe. Then something caught his eye...when he first activated the maps his current galactic position was one place, then suddenly updated to another. An indicator on the control panel was telling him that the ship's navigational system was being updated after over 2250 years from an outside source!

"That's interesting", he thought."I wonder if the system's builders are still alive or has this been on automatic for millenia?"

You see, Reg was the kind of man who paid attention to details, the little things and engineering quirks that permitted LaForge and Picard to overlook the shortcomings in his personality. One of those was programming his tricorder to act as a linguistic interface for the controls. Reg knew a little Proto-Indo-European, or PIE, but wasn't about to chance what he was doing to having it stall out because the ship needed an instruction that he was incapable of giving it. Digital computers need to follow certain universal laws of physics, the language of ones and zeroes, and so Reg had set up his own access to the vessel's computer system.

His screen began to fill in with prompts, things like "life support status", "gravitational system status", "navigation system status", and most importantly, "propulsion system status". He selected life support, and was pleased as the screen filled with status on air, food, water, wastewater treatment, and other related systems. "This really isn't much different than Enterprise", he thought. On the navigation screen, he could see that Enterprise would be rotating into view soon. Time was not on his side!

He selected "propulsion" next, and saw that all systems and flight modes were available and ready. He briefly scanned the schematics for warp and quantum slipstream drive and concluded that he'd have time for that later.

Now, it was time to fly!

Voice command: "Computer, begin pre-launch sequence."

Reply from the ship's computer: "Scanning required parameters. All parameters are nominal. Activating pre-launch sequence to antigravity surface hover."

Things outside began to happen. The ground trembled as the launch pad doors began to open.

Aboard Enterprise, Data was scanning for any vessels within range, including a tachyon scan to see of any cloaked vessels were within sensor range, so he did not notice that there was a new, alien power signature coming from the surface of LV-223. It was only when LaForge notified Picard that Barclay was missing did he notice.

"Captain, I can't locate Mr. Barclay and no one's seen him this morning."

"Standby, Geordi. Computer: please locate Lieutenant Barclay."

"Lieutenant Barclay is not aboard the Enterprise."

Riker rolled his eyes and exclaimed "Here we go again!"

Data worked his ops console controls, and said "Captain, according to his com badge signal, Mr. Barclay is aboard one of the alien vessels."

Picard was not happy! "Which one? The one with the bioweapon?"

"No, Captain. That ship is inoperable. He is in THAT vessel!"

Data was pointing to the viewscreen. A horseshoe-shaped vessel was slowly rising out of its launch platform. Barclay had somehow learned how to operate the vessel by watching the log videos and was going off on his own.

The "incoming message" bell sounded on Worf's console, and he said "Captain! We're being hailed. The source is the alien vessel."

"Put it on screen." Picard said. Riker asked "How much weirder can this get?"

The image of the ship's control chair filled the screen. There was no Barclay, just a being resembling one of the alien spacesuits they'd found while exploring the bridge.

"Mister Barclay, I demand that you stop this foolishness and return to the Enterprise immediately!"

Off audio, he turned to Worf and said "Target his engines." Worf nodded in silent agreement.

"Data, can you get a transporter lock on him?"

Data frowned and said "I cannot get a lock on Barclay. I believe that our sensors are being interfered with by the normal operation of the ship's power source."

Worf agreed and said "I cannot get a weapons lock either, Captain."

"Data, what about the tractor beam?"

"The same field the ship is using to lift up is interfering with the tractor beam. It will not lock either."

Picard tried another tack..."Mister Barclay, you've proven your point. Would you like to follow us back to Earth?"

"Captain, Elizabeth Shaw and the others came out here looking for answers. We didn't even know if they really existed, let alone if she found her answers. This vessel can take me to their homeworld in three weeks, and I can find OUR answers."

"Alright, Barclay. At least take Commander Data with you."

"No offense, Captain, but these people didn't treat the last android they met very well, and I like Data too much to place him in what would be certain danger."

Data liked what Barclay said. Picard looked at Riker, then looked at the screen, held up his hand in a Vulcan salute, and repeated the words Boothby had given him: "May your journey be free from incident, Mister Barclay."

"Thank you, Captain. The suit you see me in is almost like the neural interface the Cytherians had me construct. The vessel responds to my thoughts rather than my motions."

Then, he paused, and said "Captain, I would appreciate it if you could follow me and record my jump."

"Standing by, Mr. Barclay."

The alien vessel turned towards an unseen point in unexplored space, then accelerated through impulse speed with the Enterprise close behind. Worf commented that the ship didn't merely leave a trail of "bread crumbs", it left a trail of ionized "biscuits"! Geordi remarked that although it was advanced there was a lot of work to do to clean it up.

Barclay said "Here we go!" and the ship jumped into quantum slipstream drive, leaving the Enterprise behind.

And just like that, Lieutenant Reginald Barclay was gone.

(end of chapter)


	2. Chapter 2

Reg's Adventure Chapter Two: "Just the Basics, Please!"

Reg had made the jump into quantum slipstream drive, and the Enterprise and LV-223 were rapidly receding in the vessel's "rear-view mirror".

But there was a problem...Reg had neglected to set a course and when he did, the nav system revealed that he'd been traveling in the wrong direction!

Plotted against the galaxy, Kepler 62 and its solar system lay behind Earth and Federation space from where Zeta 2 Reticuli was. He selected Kepler, or "Otthone", and the horseshoe-shaped vessel began a gradual arc with the aim of executing a 180 degree turn! He felt a bit embarassed about his rookie navigational error, but when he saw that his planned route would take him within sensor range of several Federation planets and star bases he had to do a bit of manual input to plot a course that would permit him to pass through undetected. It wasn't known what a vessel traveling at slipstream velocity would appear as on Federation sensors, but that last thing he wanted to be mistaken for was a cloaked Romulan ship.

He wondered about how the vessel was protecting its occupant from deadly cosmic radiation, and was surprised to find that it was generating a huge magnetic field, as was used on the very first interstellar craft. This vessel would be detectable at large distances, he surmised, and adjusted his planned course to keep him far away from anything that might detect his "signature".

"Hmm,", he thought, "If they're using a magnetic field for shielding I wonder what kind of weapons this ship has?"

Voice command: "Computer, please access tactical systems."

"Define 'tactical' "

"You know, weapons and shields." He was a bit exasperated at the computer's seeming inability to process a simple request and silently wondered if he'd bitten off more than he could chew. Becoming proficient in technical P-I-E would be a very steep learning curve indeed. When his universal translator informed him that P-I-E had a close cousin in the Hungarian language, he expressed both relief and surprise at the same time. Now, he had at least a chance of having the ship's computer understand what he was asking of it, but perhaps more importantly, he could understand what the ship's computer was trying to tell him.

"There are no systems relating to 'tactical' aboard this vessel. Current system list consists of life support, navigation, gravitation, communications, and propulsion."

He sat back and thought about it...when the builders of this vessel roamed the galaxy, there were no threats requiring weapons? Perhaps they were alone, he mused. Then, he recalled the holographic video records they'd found, and the fact that there were no weapons of any kind seen in any of them. The Engineers ran from their contaminated colleague, and the last one tried to kill Elizabeth with his bare hands. He wondered what kind of culture they had that never developed weaponry...maybe they all just got along and worked for the greater good? Star Fleet had encountered ancient cultures in its spread across this arm of the galaxy, but none were anywhere near as old as the Engineers seemed to be.

He tried a different tack: "Computer, how does the ship protect itself from space dust and other interstellar debris?"

"Working...the natural characteristics of the slipstream field tend to push space and anything in it out of the path of the ship."

"What about conventional warp speed?"

"Working...the vessel has the ability to manipulate space/time in its path by adjusting the quantum gravity flux."

Reg made a facial expression that indicated he was impressed. "Too bad I can't discuss this with Albert", he thought, referring to his recent use of the Enterprise holodeck to discuss Grand Unification theory with Albert Einstein.

Then, he thought, "maybe I can discuss it with THIS ship's builders!"

Voice command: "Computer, is there any historical information on this vessel and its builders?"

"Working...there are repair instructions for all systems contained in holographic and text form."

"What about information on those who built the ship?"

Most ship designers and engineers in Star Fleet had a bit of an ego to them. They tended to be overly proud of the fact that they were manipulating laws of physics once thought inviolable, and as a consequence most of them would leave "Easter eggs" in the ship's logs detailing what they did and how they did it.

"Working...there is a file whose name translates to "Builder's Notes."

"Bingo...or Eureka!" Reg thought.

"What form is the file in?"

"Text, holographic interactive, and tutorial"

"What do I need to do to access 'holographic interactive'?"

"You must deactivate the flightsuit, and from the control console, press these buttons in the following sequence..."

"Will deactivating the flightsuit affect my current flight mode?"

"No. The flightsuit is normally used for launch and landing modes only."

Reg took careful notes...he didn't want to press the wrong sequence and have his big adventure come to a premature and possibly fatal ending. Who knew what kind of defenses this ship might have against unauthorized entry let alone use? Well, he WAS already inside, and the ship didn't appear to have taken any sort of defensive actions against him, so perhaps their culture didn't include thievery?

He took a deep breath, and said "Computer, deactivate flightsuit."

(end of chapter)


	3. Chapter 3

Reg's Adventure Chapter 3

Back aboard the Enterprise, Geordi was first to notice the magnetic signature of the alien vessel.

"Worf, take a look at this", he said, looking over his shoulder at the tactical officer.

Worf looked at Geordi's console, then worked a few controls on his own console. "The vessel has a very large magnetic field signature relative to its size."

Picard and Riker looked at each other, attempting to come up with a reason why a vessel would emit a very large, very visible magnetic field. From a tactical sense, it was the 24th century equivalent of telling any vessel within several parsecs "Here I am, come get me!" Data surmised that the magnetic shielding was to protect the vessel's occupants from the harsh radiation of space, just as the first spacefaring cultures had done.

Picard asked Data if he was able to track the vessel, and after a few seconds Data replied that once Reg's ship had activated its quantum slipstream drive the signature ended at that point in space. Data frowned, turned to Picard, and said "Captain, based upon the last trajectory information I have Mister Barclay is heading in the wrong direction!"

Picard smiled and said "I suspect Mister Barclay will figure it out sooner than later. Helm, lay in a course for Earth, speed Warp Nine."

The young lady working the navigation console pressed a few buttons and said "Course plotted and laid in, Captain."

Picard pointed at the viewscreen, and with his usual "Engage!", the Enterprise swing a graceful arc through the heavens until it pointed the way home, then vanished in a brilliant flash of light.

They, and their precious cargo of the first unknown Earthly explorers of this region of the galaxy, were on their way home.

Reg had deactivated the flightsuit and when he stepped down out of the ship's control "chair" the first thing he noticed was a feeling of heaviness. He surmised that the ship's gravity was set for those who had built it, and when he asked his computer what the gravity was compared to that of Earth, the answer didn't surprise him...

"Current gravity is 1.4 times that of Earth's"

This wasn't going to work...the last thing Reg needed was problems with his feet, knees, or back. "Computer," he asked, "is it possible to reduce gravity by 40 percent?"

"Working..." Reg could feel the results before the computer told him. "That's better", he thought.

He left the bridge and began exploring the ship's cavernous hallways. Its semicircular construction wasn't really all that unfamiliar to him, after all, the Enterprise had a saucer section along with most Earth-built Federation vessels. He thought about how inefficent the design was, with the ceilings being 12 to 14 feet high, but then thought "Big for me, not for them." He found the ship's "mess hall" and experimented with everything in it until he had figured out how to get water and something that resembled Cream of Wheat. Reg liked Cream of Wheat, so he experimented with the dispenser device. After about a hour's worth of experimentation, he'd created Cream of Wheat that tasted like everything from apples to steak. It all made sense to him, because all of the carbon-based humanoids in the Federation's database had similar nutritional requirements. "I wonder if these people have developed replicator technology by now", he thought.

The ship's sanitary facility was located in a room just off the mess hall, and once again, Reg had no trouble figuring out what control did what. He began to feel more at ease now, knowing that the important things of everyday shipboard living were within his command.

Now, it was time to explore the rest of the ship. He located what appeared to be sleeping quarters and walked inside. Clothing in closets and drawers, personal space for those on long interstellar voyages when they weren't residing in hypersleep. With the speed this vessel was capable of, he wondered just how much of the galaxy they had visited. Star Fleet had what he thought was a pretty good range without resorting to hypersleep chambers, but to have quantum slipstream drive and hypersleep chambers this vessel could easily reach the Gamma Quadrant. "We'll have to do DNA analysis if we ever find a way to get there", he thought.

On one desk, he found a photograph of one of the Engineers with his family. It struck him that they were probably long dead just like their husband and father. He sighed, and took small comfort in the fact that he would be able to answer the question of why he'd never returned home.

Why none of them had returned home.

He returned to the cavernous hallway and resumed exploring. He found what translated into "cargo hold", opened the door, and looked around the empty room. Apparently everything that once was here had been offloaded, and since the vessel was not going to be used to transport the mutagenic pathogen it was empty. Reg breathed a sigh of relief at the empty chamber. The last thing he needed were surprises...he was still a bit on edge but felt better now. Farther down was a door labled "Mernoki", which translated to "Engineering" in Hungarian. He opened the door and walked inside...it looked the same as the first derelict vessel they'd encountered, but Reg never had the time to explore it fully. Now he had the time, the desire...and the need to find out how this vessel worked.

He looked around the room, and noted that it was about the same size as the Engineering section of the Enterprise. He scanned devices with his tricorder, making notes as he went...fusion reactor, graviton generator and controls, atmospheric processor. "Pretty much standard", he thought. Then he came upon two devices he didn't recognize...the tricorder identified them as the zero-point energy and quantum slipstream drive control interfaces. Since the tricorder had identified them as "possible" devices, Reg decided that perhaps it was a good time and place to activate the "builder's notes" file that he had previously found. He scanned the chamber, and found that like most of the ship this room was equipped with both holographic recorders as well as emitters.

He tapped his comm badge, and said "Computer, access and display the 'builder's notes' file."

He was rewarded with a holographic image of the Engineer who had designed the ship's propulsion systems, along with a list of menu selections...

"Transluminalis drive", "atmoszfera feldogozo", "gravitacio vezerlas", "halozati vezerlo". The last one translated to "main power control", so he selected that one first.

The holographic Engineer's booming, resonant voice filled the room, as it explained how the ship was able to harness zero-point energy to power itself. About the only thing Reg was able to understand, along with the universal translator, was "nullpont energia". As he'd suspected and feared, the universal translator simply wasn't up to the task of deciphering extremely technical Proto-Indo-European. After all, the humans of the time didn't even have PIE as a written language, so why bother attempting to teach them mathematics, let alone highly advanced mathematics. He smiled to himself as he recalled a 20th century cartoon he's enjoyed as a child..."Prometheus and Bob".

"After all this time, I'm still 'Bob' ", he thought.

"Computer, close program", he said, and the room was again silent save the hum of unseen machinery. Then he had an idea..."Computer, can the graviton emitters on this vessel be reconfigured as shields or other defensive armaments?"

"Working...the graviton emitters are designed for vessel occupant gravity health and not for tactical purposes."

"I didn't ask WHAT they were designed for, what I want to know is do they have the capability?"

"Working...if the graviton fields are manipulated a deflector shield capable of dissipating 4 gigawatts of energy for 10 seconds may be obtained."

He smiled to himself...4GW might not be very much, but it was better than nothing at all. If he encountered the Borg or any other hostile entities ramming speed was his best option.

"Computer, is it possible to use the graviton shield in place of the magnetic shielding?"

"Working...yes, the graviton shielding will be able to provide the same craft occupant protection as the magnetic shielding, and the ship's energy consumption will decrease 10% as a result."

He wondered why the Engineers had never thought of this, and when he asked if there were any possible drawbacks or unintended consequences the reply shocked and amazed him...

"The Malakak have been a spacefaring species for at least one million standard Federation years. In all that time, there is recorded contact with only one other species, the Yautja."

One answer leads to another question..."Who are the Yautja?"

"Working...the Yaujta are a spacefaring race of hunters."

"Has the Federation ever encountered them?"

"Working...no official contacts with either species has ever been recorded. Klingon mythology references "sky hunters".

"What is their relationship to the Malakak."

Two minutes later, Reg wished that he'd not asked that question. He learned that the two species had fought a war millions of years ago, which the Malakak lost. As part of the treaty, they agreed to be prey for the Yaujta. As time passed, the Yaujta complained that the Malakak had become unworthy adversaries and threatened to exterminate them. In response, the Malakak developed the Xenomorph, a far worthy adversary. The only problem was that it required a host as part of its life cycle. The Malakak had seeded various worlds throughout the galaxy so that there would be an endless supply of hosts for these creatures. Some developed faster than others...the Malakak gave those people enough assistance to not become extinct themselves and steered the Yaujta to their planets for the hunts.

Reg wondered why the Yautja had never encountered the Borg. "I'd like to get those two together..." he thought to himself. "No, they'd probably team up and attack us!"

The computer narrative continued..."Approximately 2600 years ago a rogue band of Malakak scientists decided to break the cycle. They came to LV-223 to develop a weapon capable of destroying all life on a planet above plant level and planned to deploy it on Earth first."

"Lucky us", Reg thought.

The narrative ended there, history having not been updated since things went awry on LV-223.

(end of chapter)


	4. Chapter 4

Reg's Adventure Chapter 4

After a few weeks, Reg realized that he missed his friends and crewmates. He also realized that he was, to put it quite simply, bored. He'd learned how to interface his entertainment files with the ship's holographic emitter systems and enjoyed watching his favorite movies, much as he'd done with the holodeck aboard the Enterprise.

But there was only so much he could do, walking the huge empty hallways of the vessel was starting to get to him. He began to "see things" out of the corners of his eyes in the shadows and doorways, and after a few months had resorted to sleeping in one of the hyperspace chambers and taking sedatives just to get some rest. Now he was beginning to understand why the Engineers used hypersleep chambers on a ship that was far faster than anything in the Federation's database. Space could be very boring.

One day something strange happened...

Reg and his ship had just entered the Malakak homeworld's solar system and had dropped out of warp and stopped behind an orbiting body composed of ferrous material. Reg figured that if they were out there scanning the planetoid would block their scans while he could scan the system using the enhancements he'd installed. There was no sub-space radio on this ship; it had what he determined to be an analogue television transmitter with a single-sideband transciever operating in a frequency band close to 500 mHz. He activated the radio's scanning feature and was listening to nothing when his tricorder interface began speaking...

"Diagnostics...incorrect clock frequency...unable to correct...compensating..."

Reg looked at the tricorder and the interface with the ship's computers and thought "Great, this just what I don't need, a computer failure this close and the most dangerous part of the journey."

"Computer, what is wrong with the clock frequency?"

"Working...clock frequency is now 20% of nominal."

"Is there a problem with the computer time base?"

"Working...the time base is normal."

"Normal? Normal to what?" he thought to himself. He sat back and thought for a second before asking the computer another question.

"Computer, when did the clock frequency error begin?"

"Working...the error began once this vessel entered this system."

He looked around the ship, then had an idea. He activated the viewscreen to see a sky filled with red-shifted stars. He had another idea...

"Computer, compare the average spectral wavelength of the light of Antares with its current wavelength."

"Working...the current average spectral wavelength of the light emitted by the star Antares is 20% of its known recorded wavelength."

Reg's suspicions were confirmed. The Malakak home system was residing in a "time well", where time inside the well passed at a rate 80% slower than most of the universe. "Fascinating", he thought. There had been scientific theories about regions of space like this one, but no one had ever encountered one. Then he did some math in his head and came to a startling conclusion...if time here passed at a slower rate, Elizabeth just might be still alive. A little over 55 years older, which would put her in her 70s, but still alive.

Maybe.

"Computer, is there a hailing frequency listed for the ship's com system?"

"Working...frequency 501.500 is the home system hailing frequency."

"Monitor that frequency. Have you picked up any transmissions or detected any vessels?"

"Working...no transmissions on any frequency have been received and no vessels have been detected."

"Good", he thought. "They don't know I'm here. I can sneak in quiet as a mouse!"

He didn't know how wrong he was...

(end of chapter)


	5. Chapter 5

Reg's Adventure Chapter 5

Reg didn't know it, but when he dropped out of warp the gravitational shielding he'd used in place of the magnetic shielding was detected by the Malakak Defense Forces grid.

"Sir, take a look at this!"

"What is it?"

"It appears to be a negative gravity field surrounding one of our vessels." the monitoring Engineer said to his superior.

"Negative gravity?! Are you sure? What vessel? Run its registry beacon."

Reg had moved the ship out of his "parking spot" and had begun moving towards the home world at about one-half impulse when the tricorder suddenly spoke...

"Unidentified transmission detected!"

Reg's eyes widened as he asked "Computer, is this a scanning transmission or a radar?"

"Working...this was a directed transmission. It activated a transmission from the ship's navigational command."

"What kind of transmission?"

"Working...a data transmission 0.2 seconds in length, frequency-shift keying in nature, 1.2 terabit data rate."

"What data did it contain?" Reg was puzzled now.

"Working...the data was the vessel's identification."

Reg had a quandry to deal with, and he had to deal with it quickly.

"Computer, can this ship be piloted remotely from the Malakak homeworld?"

"Working...remote piloting will be available when the ship reaches a point 5000 kilometers from the planet."

Reg thought about disabling the system, but pondered whether or not it might be misinterpreted and paint him as a possible hostile enemy. He asked "Computer, does the Malakak control have the ability to remotely activate visual communications?"

"Working...two-way visual communication is possible only from inside the control suit."

The Malakak engineer had scanned the vessel's registry and didn't believe his display. This vessel hadn't been heard from for a very long time and had been listed as overdue. His supervisor looked at the registry and quickly determined that its sister ship had arrived with a "visitor" and her android over 50 of their years ago. He sat back in his chair, and activated a comm link to the planet's equivalent of High Command.

A bored-sounding voice said "Yes, what is it?" "Sir, another vessel from the lost moon mission is on the threshold."

The boredom was quickly replaced by a sense of urgency..."What is it doing? Approaching?"

"No, it is holding position just beyond autolanding system range."

"Any communication?"

"No, I haven't attempted to hail the vessel."

"Well, try hailing the ship!"

Just then, Reg summoned his courage, activated his transmitter, and said "This is Lieutenant Reginald Barclay of the United Federation of Planets. I come in peace!"

Reg felt stupid when he realized that he'd hailed in standard English, not Proto-Indo-European or at least Hungarian as he'd planned. The data transmission had disrupted his plan.

He was about to try resending when a reply came across in standard English: "We understand your language. If you truly come in peace please move your vessel within range and allow our autopiloting system to bring you to the planet's surface. We will scan your vessel so please do not be alarmed. Activate your visual transmitter now."

Reg spoke "Computer, activate television transmitter." When he did, he was rewarded with a visual image of the Malakak control operator.

The control operator's supervisor saw the image, and muttered "Human" under his breath. "Another can of worms..." he thought. He remembered the story his grandfather had told him long ago of the day when a ghost ship thought to be lost suddenly appeared, carrying an "experiment" from a backwater world and an artificial person. Elizabeth and David were in fact artifacts of the Great War with the Yaujta. Their arrival, and the upheaval to their society it caused, forced the Malakak to have to come to grips with a simple fact: their "children" were beginning to take their place among the stars.

But they were only two, and no one had come after. Now, not only had someone come after, but this Barclay was part of a "united Federation of planets?" Just how many spacefaring civilizations were there?

He was shaken out of his thoughts when the console operator asked "Sir?"

He sighed and said "Bring the ship into docking bay 10." Pressing another button, he said "Security, please send a team to docking bay 10."

(end of chapter)


	6. Chapter 6

Reg's Adventure Chapter 6

Reg's vessel entered the planet's gravity field, then its atmosphere. The control operator said "Please stay on the ship's bridge. A security team will meet you there."

"Understood", Barclay replied. He watched the approach through his viewer, but a little voice was nagging him. "This is too easy", he thought. "I better get out of this flight suit and get ready."

The Malakak High Command was suddenly called into session, contrasting viewpoints flying about as members debated what to do with their visitor.

"We should kill him!'

"Why do you want to do that? You can't learn anything from a dead man!"

"He can't leave here! He'll tell about our existence!"

"They already know we're here...two of them used our own ships to get here."

"What if they use the black death against us?"

"Then we have no one to blame but ourselves for not cleaning up after ourselves!"

Someone amongst the group of wizened old Malakak said "Why don't we call upon the Shaw and her companion, eh?"

"Yes, solve two problems with one stroke. Genius, my friend, genius. You are indeed wise."

Reg's journey to the Malakak homeworld, Kepler 62f, had ended. The ship had gently landed, but Reg was feeling heavy from the planet's naturally heavier gravity. He reasoned that he could use his personal shield generator to reduce the effects on him, and set it up so that his body was within an antigravity "bubble". He had just completed his work when he heard the sound of footsteps echoing down the hall...his tricorder indicated four humanoid life forms, all approximately eight feet tall and 200 kilograms...big, heavy dudes, Reg thought. Two of them entered, pointed spearlike devices at him, and said "Don't move!"

Reg didn't like the sound of this, and he began to stutter as he said "I come in peace."

One of the two attempted to grab Reg...but the personal shield pushed back and the guard's arm flew backwards. "What the..." he said as he gathered himself and tried again to grab Reg. The force he used was easily countered by the personal shield and the guard went flying.

Reg was aghast, and turned to help the fallen guard while saying "I'm sorry". He didn't see the other guard charging towards him with the spear-like device, but when the guard discharged it the shield responded and he went flying as well. "What sort of magic is this?!" he said, and Reg remembered an old saying, that being any technology sufficiently advanced is indistinguishable from magic.

The commotion brought the other two guards in, and they held Reg at bay while helping their fallen comrades. "Please, I'm sorry, the system was on automatic, I didn't mean to hurt you!" Reg stammered out.

"He threw us like we were toys!" "No, it wasn't me," Reg said, "It was my personal shield device. I can share the technology if you'd like."

Just then a booming voice said "Soldiers, attention!" and the four guards snapped to. "What's going on here?" their commander asked. "When we attempted to place him under arrest he did something that caused us to fall." "Who told you to arrest him?" the commander said. The guards looked at one another and the commander rolled his eyes. He looked at Reg, then looked back at his men, and asked "Did any of you try asking him to come along...?"

Reg felt relieved when the commander turned to him and said "I am Commander Kraynak. Welcome to our home, and in a manner of speaking, your home too."

Reg turned the autoprotect function off, and smiled as he held out his hand in friendship. "I am Lieutenant Reginald Barclay of the United Federation of Planets. I come in peace."

The big Engineer looked at Reg and asked "Would you please follow me to a quarantine area for a scan? Standard procedure."

"Lead the way", Reg replied.

Reg walked beside Kraynak while the rest of the guards walked a few meters behind. Reg had his tricorder on "record" so if anything happened he'd have a record of it. "How was your journey, Barclay of Earth?"

"How-how do you know what planet I'm from?" he asked.

"There is a lot of history you don't know, but we have someone here who can explain it to you. Her name is Elizabeth Shaw."

Reg stumbled..."You-you mean she's still alive?"

"Yes, and she has been quite the ambassador and historian since she's been here."

"How long has she been here?"

"A little over 55 orbits, I believe."

"You do know about the fact your homeworld is in the middle of a time bubble, right?"

"What's a 'time bubble'?" Kraynak asked. He was fully aware of the dilation effect, but was testing Barclay to see if he- and the rest of the humans- could understand advanced concepts. Barclay explained it, then showed Kraynak the twin chronometers on his tricorder screen, one kept Federation time, the other was connected to the Malakak central timekeeping system.

Kraynak was impressed.


	7. Chapter 7

Reg's Adventure Chapter 7

"To Boldly Go Where Someone Has Gone Before"

(shamelessly stolen from "The Enterprise Mission" website)

Kraynak and Reg walked together, with the rest of the guards following them but not too closely. They reasoned that this Barclay, although dressed in some sort of uniform and comporting himself not quite like a soldier, was not a threat...unless he was infected by the "black death". Kraynak asked Reg "You have the appearance of a soldier but you do not act like a soldier." Reg smiled and said "I am a member of what my people call 'Star Fleet', and my normal task is what we call an 'engineer'. Basically, my job is to fix the ship and keep its systems operating correctly." Kraynak smiled and said "A repairman?" "You could say that,", Reg replied. "I also like to experiment with devices and other things." "Ah, so you're an inventor as well?" Kraynak asked. Reg thought about it for a second, smiled, and said "I never thought of it like that. I guess you're right, Kraynak. What do you like to do when you're not working?"

Kraynak thought about the question for a second...this Barclay certainly wasn't in awe of him or his species, and wanted to learn about how others lived as well. "I spend as much time with my family as I can. One of my forefathers was on the lost moon mission and it had been a mystery for a long time as to why he, and the rest of them, never returned home. Tell me, Reg, do you have a family?"

Reg smiled as he replied "I do not have a 'family' of my own, but I consider my shipmates on the Enterprise to be my family." Kraynak had heard the stories from their war with the Predators, and asked Reg if the Enterprise had accompanied him. This visit had the potential to turn bad quickly, even though their defense grid scans had detected no other vessels of any kind.

"No. The Enterprise is not fast enough. The journey would take nearly one Earth year at its maximum speed." Then he felt a little remorse at having taken off as he did, and added "I probably won't be working for Star Fleet anymore by the time I get home."

Kraynak felt relieved, smiled, and said "Violated orders, eh?" Reg looked at the floor and said "Well, no one actually said 'Don't take one of their ships to their homeworld!', so technically I didn't violate *that* order."

"This is the scanning chamber, Reg. Would you mind stepping inside? We've already scanned the ship but we need to scan you."

Reg stepped inside, and beams of light danced all over his body as the technician observed a display of the inside of Reg's body. "He's clean", the technician said, and then the door to the chamber opened. Kraynak had already sent his troops to the ship to check it out and download its logs. Reg's feet and back were hurting from the heavier gravity, and he asked Kraynak if he might be able to use his personal shield generator. Kraynak thought about it, and said "I hate to make you suffer, but could you wait until after we've seen our planet's ruling body of elders? They might be startled by your device."

Then he added "When Elizabeth Shaw arrived she had the same problems. Our physicians and engineers were able to create devices that allowed her body to heal and adapt to our planet's gravity."

Reg was taken by surprise. He looked up at Kraynak with a look of shock and said "Elizabeth Shaw? You-you mean that she's still alive?" The possibility that he might actually be able to talk with a survivor of the Prometheus mission was filling his mind with possibilities and so many questions to ask...questions like "How did these people react to your arrival in one of their ships?"

Kraynak smiled and said "So many questions you must have. There will be time but first you must speak with the Elders."

Reg snapped out of his daydream and said "Oh, right. Lead the way.", and the two of them stepped into a transport tube and headed towards the planet's rulers' chambers.

(end of chapter)


	8. Chapter 8

Reg's Adventure Chapter 8

"Doctor Shaw, I Presume?"

On the part of Kepler 62f where she lived and worked, it was almost sunrise, such as it were. The inhabitants of the Engineer homeworld lived underground...this explained their lack of skin pigmentation and large eyes. Since the planet's gravity was about 1.4 times that of Earth, this explained why these people were physically larger than most humans. While in her time there were athletes who could measure up to these Engineers they were the exception rather than the rule. Elizabeth Shaw and David had used their time well here on Otthune, conducting archeological research among other academic pursuits. It had taken her quite some time to convince her hosts that they were not a threat to them, and they eventually relented and permitted David's head to be reattached to his body.

Her communications terminal woke her up..."Who in the world could be calling at this hour?", she wondered. "Would you like me to answer it, Elizabeth?" David asked. "No, I'll get it. It better be important at this time of day." she said.

She said "Answer" in Proto-Indo-European, and the screen lit up. "Sorry to bother you at this hour, Doctor Shaw, but a matter of utmost importance requires your coming to the High Council chambers as soon as possible."

Puzzled, she looked at the screen, and asked "What could be so important? Is there a problem?"

The female Engineer on the other end smiled and said "It's nothing like that."

Then she leaned into the camera and said "You've got a visitor."

"A visitor? From where?"

"From Earth, your homeworld!"

Elizabeth was taken aback. David was following her facial expressions and activated his cardiac monitor, just in case her AFIB flared up as it sometimes did when she became excited.

"Ho-hostile or friendly?" she asked hesitatingly.

"Quite friendly. He calls himself Reg Barclay."

"Is he from the Weyland Corporation? I don't want to see him if he is."  
"He said that he belongs to a 'Star Fleet' or something like that. They're taking him to the High Council chambers now, and that's why your presence is requested there."

"I-I'll be there as soon as I can.", she said, and wished her caller a good day.

Screen off, she turned to David and said "We've had a good, peaceful life here, and now it's going to be turned upside down. I just know it!"

David smiled and said "He's only one man. It's not like there's an army, or...an android."

"No, no android, that's for sure.", she said.

"I wonder how life on Earth's changed since we left?", David mused.

Elizabeth smiled and said "We're about to find out." Then she asked David if he'd mind making breakfast for her while she took a shower and got ready for the tube-trip through the planet's core. They'd taken that trip many times in the 50 Otthune-years since they'd arrived, and every time the thought of traveling at trans-sonic speeds through the planet's core just played havoc with her claustrophobia.

Years ago, she told herself that it was in the name of science that she needed to step into the Prometheus' hyperspace hibernation chamber, a decision that she sometimes regretted making. The ghosts and memories of those lost still haunted her, as she felt responsible for their deaths. In an earlier time she would weep and wonder if anyone knew about them and missed them.

If anyone cried and prayed for her soul...

An hour later, she and David were ready to go. She took a deep breath before entering the tube car, somewhat larger than an Earth subway car, looked at David, and said "Let's get this over with."

David smiled and said "No matter what happens, we'll always have Paris."

Elizabeth smiled at David and said "That's what I love about you...you have always had an uncanny knack at putting things in perspective."

Reg was led into the center of a large room. "Everything here is so much larger.", he thought. He looked around at the assembled elders and thought about how many worlds in the Federation had similar governing bodies and wondered just how many worlds these people had engineered. He was lost in thought when one of the Engineers held out a huge hand and said "Reg Barclay of Earth, welcome to our world, Otthune." Reg smiled, shook the Elder's hand. and said "Thank you for allowing me here, to speak with you and your colleagues."

"We don't get many 'visitors' in our part of the galaxy. By the way, my name is Noms."

"Noms, it is my pleasure to meet you." Reg replied.

"Reg, we'd like to wait until Doctor Shaw and David arrive before we begin. I'm sure that you have many questions about us that she can answer for you."

Reg smiled and said "No problem."

Just then, Elizabeth and David walked into the chamber. Reg stood out in the light, his Star Fleet uniform making him look distinguished. "He's tall and young, too.", she whispered to David.

Noms smiled and said "Ah, here they are now", and Reg turned around to see Elizabeth and David, parts of a former space legend, walking towards him. He was almost overwhelmed, but his recent encounter with the Cytherians gave him confidence. She looked up at him and smiled, and he said the only words he could think of:

"Doctor Shaw, I presume?"

(end of chapter)


	9. Chapter 9

Reg's Adventure Chapter 9

"I Come In Peace For All Mankind"

"Doctor Shaw, I presume?"

"Yes, and you must be Reg Barclay. Welcome to Otthune, our home."

"I-it's quite an honor to meet you, Dr. Shaw. And this must be David."

David extended his hand, smiled, and repeated Elizabeth's welcome. Reg was almost beside himself now. Noms smiled and said "Now that we're all here, Barclay of Earth, we have a few questions to ask. We know that you used one of our vessels to bring you here, as Elizabeth did, but why didn't you come in your own ship?"

Reg said "Well, the Enterprise...wait! Do you mind if I address the Council?"

Noms gestured towards the other elders, now seated, and said "Please do."

Reg straightened himself up as much as the heavier gravity would permit, looked at the elders, and said "My name is Reginald Barclay. I, like Dr. Shaw and David, am from Earth. I come in peace for all mankind."

An unseen voice asked "Are you a vanguard for an attacking force?"

"No. We are explorers. Earth is but one member in a coalition of 150 FTL-capable civilizations that reaches across what we call the Alpha and Beta quadrants of our galaxy."

"So, you HAVE come here to try and conquer us?!" another unseen voice asked.

"No, we only explore, not conquer."

"Your species was declared dangerous and marked for termination some 2500 of your years ago. How have you changed since then?"

Reg looked at Elizabeth and David, and said "I don't know what they've told you about how civilization has evolved on Earth, but what I can tell you is that since Elizabeth and David left to explore LV-223 there have been a lot of changes in our society...as well as the societies of other worlds where you've engineered civilizations."

One of the elders decided to test Reg's version of what happened on LV-223, and said "Did your people murder our people on the moon?"

Reg said "No. Since the first century after we learned how to exceed the speed of light there were legends about two of our vessels that never returned home." Gesturing at Elizabeth and David, he went on.

"Their ship, the Prometheus, was without any records until the records of the Weyland-Yutani corporation were discovered a few months ago." Elizabeth looked at David and mouthed "Weyland-Yutani?!" at him.

"No one had explored the Zeta II Reticuli system and when one of our unmanned probes discovered artificial structures there Star Fleet sent the Enterprise to investigate. Over 250 Earth years had passed since they explored the moon, and our mission was one of investigation and recovery, if possible."

Turning to Elizabeth, he said "We found everyone's remains, and the Enterprise returned them home."

Elizabeth began weeping, thinking again about her crewmates. Reg held her close and she cried out the tears until there were no more left to cry. They were all going home...someone had remembered them after all.

After a few minutes, she composed herself and Reg continued on..."There were no Mala'kak left alive. We found the remains of forty of them and the remains of an unidentified creature. We also found a large quantity of a mutagenic pathogen but we were able to avoid it."

Reg heard a sigh from one of the Elders. "Did your people take any of it with you? What did you do with it?"

"We left it where it was. Star Fleet will dispose of it before anyone else 'discovers' it."

This created a stir among the elders. "No, we created it, and we will send a team to dispose of it. I believe that it has outlived its purpose."

Reg was a bit taken aback, and asked "If I may ask, for what 'purpose' was it created?"

David whispered to Elizabeth "Sometimes in order to create, one must first destroy."

Elizabeth looked at him, remembering how he'd said those same words just before waking the last Engineer, and how things "went to pot" from that point onwards. She'd gotten her answer many years ago, but now things were vastly different. Should the Mala'kak choose to attempt to destroy humanity, humanity was now in a far better position to defend itself from those who might wish to play Creator yet again.

Noms rose to speak, and looked at his colleagues..."Many of your centuries ago, after much thought and debate, it was decided that your planet would be cleansed because you, the prevailing species, were simply too self-serving and violent. We sent messengers to guide you as we had in the past, but instead of listening you brutally killed them. Centuries before that, we sent messengers but you ignored them. We destroyed two of your cities as a result...I believe you called them Sodom and Gomorrah." But you still weren't listening!

All three of them stared in rapt awe as pieces of their mythology were explained. Elizabeth and David had been there for fifty of their years and no one had ever told them this story.

Noms went on..."When we first seeded your world the life that grew there was not what we desired. Large reptiles, I believe Elizabeth called them 'dinosaurs', were the dominant species. We knew that they would be incompatible with humans so we directed an asteroid towards Earth and that eradicated them. But it took many centuries for the planet to return to a state where humans could live, so we developed other, faster means of cleansing a planet that didn't involve the environment."

Reg was astounded. These people were spreading their genome, their idea of 'life', throughout the quadrant and perhaps the galaxy, and they seemingly held no qualms towards erasing the 'blackboard' and starting over if things didn't turn out the way they wanted them to. Star Fleet had its own brush with this, with Project Genesis, but had decided to never take that path because it violated everything the Federation stood for.

"We have our own mythology", Noms continued, "and it makes reference to the First Ones(*), an earlier race who, like us, seeded the galaxy with their own genome but died off long before we ourselves took to space."

Reg said "I hate to interrupt you, but my back and feet are hurting because of your gravity. Would you mind if I used a device I made that enables me to walk normally in any gravity?"

Noms said "No need, Reg." With that, Reg felt the gravity lessen and the pain eased.

"Thank you. One more request?"

"Yes?"

"I need to use the 'body waste' facility."

Noms smiled and said "I think we could all use a short time to get water and food."

(end of chapter)

(*) references "The Chase" episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.


	10. Chapter 10

Reg's Adventure Chapter 10

"Simply Amazing!"

With the initial tension dissipated and seeing their new guest had the same needs as they, the atmosphere in the High Council chambers was not as charged as it had been. Lights were brought up to illuminate the chamber, and seats were brought in for the two humans and one android.

During the break, Noms had overheard Reg talking to David about someone named 'Data". This piqued his curiosity...were the Terrans, as Reg had called himself, still attempting to create life with machines? He would find out once the session resumed.

Noms said "Reg, please tell my colleagues about your artificial friend, the one you call 'Data'."

Reg had seen the Prometheus' log tapes and saw how the Engineer reacted to David, and recalled why he didn't want to bring Data and put him in the same danger.

"How many 'Datas' are there?"

The other Elders looked uncomfortable now, and Reg saw this. "Data is quite unique. He is the only one of his kind that I know of."

Noms looked around, and said "The only one? Your Star Fleet doesn't try to create artificials?"

"No. We have machines for specific tasks but not androids. Why do you ask?"

"One of the first worlds that we seeded created sentient machines. They lived over 150,000 of your years ago*. There was a great battle between the machines and their human creators that resulted in the destruction of their world and the resultant exodus brought the humans to a solar system that had 12 worlds. They inhabited those worlds and their civilization began anew. Many centuries later, the painful lessons of their history had been forgotten and once again they created sentient machines. History repeated itself, and we watched as a promising civilization was destroyed and its humans forced to flee towards the stars."

Elizabeth recalled the first time she'd heard this story, many years ago. The Mala'kak were a peaceful people, gentle giants embracing their role as "farmers" of this quadrant of the galaxy. It pained them deeply to watch this destruction, and they made the difficult decision to develop methods of "cleaning" a planet of its humanoid life that didn't require destruction of a planet's environment like steering asteroids into a planet did. Those methods made her shudder, and she resolved that if her hosts didn't tell Reg the whole story then she would.

Reg tried to embrace the sheer majesty of it all...these Mala'kak were many millions of Earth years old. He wondered how many years they lived, but decided against asking at this point in time. Noms and Kraynak seemed friendly enough, but Reg wondered how they viewed humans. Reg got up, and asked Noms "How do you view humans?" Noms seemed confused, and asked "In what manner?" Reg said "In the Federation, everyone is viewed as equals, no matter their gender, species, or race."

Noms looked at his colleagues, and said "Once upon a time, we looked at you as an experiment, nothing more. The arrival of Elizabeth and David changed all of that."

Looking at Elizabeth, he said "You two were the first of our 'children' to return home."

Reg smiled and said "Some years ago, I got into an argument with my father. I asked him if he viewed me as an adult or a child, and he replied that he viewed me as his son. Only now do I understand what he meant."

Noms smiled and said "Your father is indeed a wise man. We no longer view you as 'children'; we view you as our sons and daughters."

Turning to Elizabeth, Noms said "We have heard enough for this day, and we desire to debate amongst ourselves. Elizabeth, would you mind having Reg as your guest? It would give you time to discuss amongst yourselves the events of the day and in the time since you left Earth. I'm sure that you both have many questions. If not, lodging for Reg can be arranged."

Elizabeth stood up and said that it would be her honor to host Reg for the rest of his time here. As she said that, she wondered if they would allow Reg to leave, to return home with knowledge of their existence and location.

She might be hosting Reg for the rest of her life!

(end of chapter)

* references "Battlestar Galactica 2003"


	11. Chapter 11

Reg's Adventure Chapter 11

"Whatever Happened To...?"

Reg, Elizabeth, and David exited the High Council chambers and walked towards a transport tube. Reg absent-mindedly said to no one in particular "Kind of reminds me of the Klingon High Council minus the drama."

"Klingons? Who are the Klingons?" Elizabeth asked.

Reg looked at her and said "Oh, I'm sorry. You won't believe how much has changed since you left Earth."

She asked Reg what year it was. "In your time, 2367. We don't use the old system except in archeology anymore. 'Star dates' are used by the Federation and its members."

"When the Prometheus left Earth, it was some thirty years after the Vulcans made first contact. We only knew of a few other spacefaring civilizations, but the Vulcans didn't want us roaming the galaxy without their supervision."

Reg was amazed..."How...how much about that time do you remember? Did you actually meet Zephram Cochrane?"

(this is before the events of "Star Trek: First Contact)

"No, I was interested in archeology, not space. Although we found and connected the cave drawings, we never went to the Vulcans to see if perhaps they had any insights."

Then she looked away, and sadly said "Maybe we should have, but Charlie and I had visions of a Nobel Prize in our eyes and so we went to Peter Weyland, the richest man on the planet at the time."

"And it all, as David said, 'went to pot.' "

David looked at Reg, and asked how he knew that. Just then, the transport car arrived, and they walked in and took seats.

"We were able to recover the log entries along with the remains of your crewmates", Reg said. "Captain Picard believes that if Weyland hadn't 'blitzed' the Engineer with his requests for more life and being arrogant the entire encounter could have turned out differently. One of the first classes you attend at Star Fleet Academy is in First Contact protocols. Our early spacefaring history is pockmarked with poor initial contacts, sometimes leading to war as it did with the Klingons."

"But you're not at war with them now?" Elizabeth asked.

"No, not now, but the war cost a lot of lives on both sides over a misunderstanding."

She looked away and said "Weyland provided the money, and he called all of the shots."

"Yes, I know," Reg said. "We watched the video of the encounter on the Engineer vessel's bridge and Picard believes that you and Weyland 'overloaded' the Engineer. His facial expressions tell the story. He was expecting a rescue from his own people and instead he's confronted by a group of Terrans speaking a language he doesn't understand."

"What you don't know is what happened in the lifeboat after you left the Engineer to grapple with the 'squid monster'."

"So, what happened?"

"The Engineer eventually lost the battle, and ended up being impregnated with some kind of bipedal creature that burst from his chest."

Elizabeth became defensive, saying "It was his own fault! He decided to attack me even after I hit him with an axe!"

Reg held up his hands, saying "I know, I know! He was a lot bigger and stronger than you and all you did was defend yourself. He would have killed you if you hadn't opened the med bay doors."

"Well, perhaps you can explain it to our 'hosts'. I think that some of them still don't believe me about what happened on LV-223."

Then she looked at Reg, and said "Reg, there is a possibility that they will not let you leave this place. They wouldn't let me and David leave, in fact, they destroyed the ship we used to come here."

Reg's blood ran cold and drained to his feet at the thought of effectively being held prisoner here. He hadn't thought of that. After a few moments he said "Perhaps I can persuade them to allow me to play the log entries before the High Council. Honesty and openness are always the best policies."

"Besides, Star Fleet knows where I went, and if I don't return they will certainly send a ship to investigate and to initiate first contact"

Elizabeth replied "The Mala'kak are quite secretive since the war with the Yautja."

It was Reg's turn to be surprised, as he said with astonishment "Who are the Yautja?"

(end of chapter)


	12. Chapter 12

Reg's Adventure Chapter 12

"Enter the Yaujta"

"Who are the Yaujta?" Reg asked. Through all of the known worlds in the Federation there was no record of these people. "Where are they from?"

Elizabeth looked surprised. She knew something Reg, and by extension Star Fleet, did not know.

"They were a race of hunters."

"Oh, like the Klingons?" Reg thought for a second, said "Watch this", and activated his tricorder's holographic emitters to create an image of a Klingon warrior.

Elizabeth and David studied the image for a few seconds, and said "No, that's not it. I'll show you when we get back to my home."

Just then Reg remembered Worf's comment about "sky warriors" in Klingon mythology, and said "I didn't download the Klingon mythology files."

"Do they mention the Yaujta?" Elizabeth asked.

"Not in as many words, but they mention 'sky warriors' and I wonder if their drawings might match up. You mentioned that the Mala'kak lost a war with these people?"

Elizabeth sighed and said "Reg, this is where it gets complicated."

Reg smiled and said "Well, if I have to stay here I'll have plenty of time to listen to your stories."

She had noticed Reg's body language...he hadn't intended or noticed, but he triggered a response in a long-dormant area of the 70-something old Elizabeth, and she coyly said "You're cute, Reg, but I'm old enough to be your grandmother."

Reg caught himself and straightened up. "I-I meant that if I'm stuck here I can't think of anyone else I'd rather be stuck with!"

Elizabeth smiled at David and said "He is just making it worse", and David replied "I'll never understand the whole mating ritual thing."

Elizabeth gave Reg a hug, and said "I can't think of anyone else I'd rather be stuck here with either, Reg."

It had been a very long time since she'd enjoyed the embrace of another human, and she let herself feel free and sighed.

Just then the transport began slowing in preparation for arrival at Elizabeth's station. "In case you haven't already figured it out, the Mala'kak live underground. We're on the side of the planet opposite from where you arrived."

Reg looked out of the window at the approaching twilight, and said "I've visited a lot of worlds, but this one is unique."

"In what way?" David asked.

"Well, other than my contact with the Cytherians a few months ago no one from the Federation has explored this sector of the quadrant either." Reg replied.

Elizabeth touched a panel, and the door to her residence slid open. "Welcome home, Reg.", she said. "I guess that I need to add you to my access list. Put your hand on the door panel."

When Reg touched the panel it glowed red instead of the green it had when Elizabeth touched it. Then the color changed to green, and she said "You should be able to get in now."

Reg said "Other than the soldiers at the docking bay I haven't seen any weapons or anyone resembling police."

David had gotten Reg and Elizabeth a drink, and they both thanked him. David liked this Reg Barclay, because he still remembered how most of the humans he knew treated him. Perhaps things were truly different on Earth now. He made a note to ask Reg about Data when he had a chance.

She looked at Reg and said "Remember the Yaujta I spoke about before?"

"Yes."

The Mala'kak don't like to talk about the war not only because they lost but because of what they had to do to get the killing to stop before they were destroyed."

"Go on."

"When I left LV-223 with David it was to find out why they changed their minds after planning to destroy us some 2000 years previous. It turns out that the Yaujta played a role."

Reg asked "Who are they?"

"The Yaujta are a race of hunters from a part of the galaxy unknown to the Mala'kak. You've noticed that the ship you came here in had no weapons?"

Reg nodded his head in agreement.

"Until the Yaujta showed up, the Mala'kak were the only spacefaring species in this section of the galaxy. They'd sent scout ships out and once in a while they wouldn't return. The Mala'kak chalked it up to the risks of space travel...sometimes they don't return."

"Some things never change.", Reg replied.

"One method of cleansing a planet involved a parasitic creature. This creature would breed until there was nothing left for it to breed with or feed upon and then it would die off, leaving a planet ready for 're-seeding' as the Mala'kak put it."

Reg waved his hand, and said "If it's the same as this (activating his holo projector) then I understand."

An image of the reconstructed Xenomorph appeared.

Elizabeth cringed, and said "Those things give me nightmares! Yes, that's it! Did you encounter them?"

"No, but there are legends from other worlds and documentation from Weyland-Yutani on this animal."

"Well, did you read it?"

"No. Captain Picard briefed us on it but he never mentioned the mutagenic pathogen we found in the wrecked vessel on the surface of the moon."

Elizabeth gave a wry smile and said "The xenomorph came first. The black goo came millenia after it. It was, once again (sighing under her breath and rolling her eyes in disgust) a *better, faster* method of clearing life off of a planet."

Reg asked "Is that all they ever do? Create and destroy and create again?"

Elizabeth shrugged and said "I guess that when you reach a certain technological level you feel the need to play God."

Reg looked at the floor and said "Remind me to tell you about Project Genesis sometime."

Elizabeth looked at David and said "David, would you like to tell the tale?"

"Yes, certainly.", he replied.

"The Yaujta began using the prehistoric humans on the worlds seeded by the Mala'kak as fodder for their hunts. According to records of the Weyland Corporation, in the year 2004 a Weyland satellite detected a heat bloom beneath Bouvetoya Island. Charles Bishop Weyland assembled a team to investigate. All were killed but one, a guide named Alexa Woods. According to her report, the team found a shaft and decended towards the heat source. They found a pyramid, similar in construction to several found around the world. They accidentally activated the pyramid, and in the process encountered the Xenomorph and some died immediately. Three Yaujta arrived and after killing the humans on the surface entered the pyramid and began battling the Xenomorphs. Through translating the ancient hieroglyphs on the pyramid, they discovered that the Yaujta had been visiting Earth for many thousands of years. They taught the early humans how to build and were revered as gods. Every 100 years they would visit Earth to take part in a rite of passage in which humans would sacrifice themselves to be hosts for the Xenomorphs, and the Yaujta would hunt them." (1)

Reg was incredulous..."So...you're saying that *both* the Mala'kak and Yaujta influenced early human development?"

David nodded and continued "The Mala'kak arrived far earlier in time. One of their first human creations on Earth were the Neandertals. Unfortunately for them, they reached an evolutionary dead-end by not advancing and only living in balance with their environment. Instead of sending Xenos to change things, they engineered the Cro-Magnons and let things take their course. They knew that the Cro-Magnons were better able to imagine, communicate, improvise, adapt , and overcome adversity. The Neandertals died out naturally, and here we are today...or, at least you and Elizabeth are."

"Wait, what about the people from 150,000 years ago? Didn't they create a technological civilization?" Reg remembered what Noms had said about failed civilizations.

"No. They desired to change history and leave it all behind so as to not eventually have a war with the Cylons (turning towards Elizabeth)...Is that right, Elizabeth? Weren't they called the Cylons?"

Elizabeth nodded in agreement, and said "Yes, that's right, David."(2)

Reg said "We've never encountered either race. They aren't in the Federation's database. I wonder what happened to them?"

David said "According to the Mala'kak, the Yaujta began experimenting with genetic enhancements, creating a race of "super predators". (3) "Apparently a war broke out between the creators and created, resulting in the destruction of both species."(4)

"Did the Mala'kak ever investigate why the Yaujta stopped coming?" Reg asked.

David replied "No. They were just glad that they were no longer being hunted or under attack."

Elizabeth added "Reg, did you notice that there aren't very many Mala'kak around?"

Reg thought about it and replied "You know, now that you mentioned it I haven't seen more than maybe two dozen people since I arrived."

Elizabeth went on "The Mala'kak were nearly exterminated. They live for a very long time compared to us but things happen more slowly for them."

Then, she dropped a bombshell!

"Reg, their total population is maybe 5,000 people. Once, there were millions. You can't blame them for being protective."

The blood drained from his face, and Reg didn't know what to say.

Elizabeth did..."Once, they were alone, today, a civilization on the edge of extinction."

"Star Fleet could help them."  
"They still have their pride, Reg."

He couldn't think of anything to say.

(end of chapter)

(1) references "Aliens vs. Predators"

(2) references "Battlestar Galactica 2003"

(3) references "Predators"

(4) references the fact that the Yaujta played no part in the timeline during or after the events of "Alien", "Aliens", "Alien3", and "Alien Resurrection". Both "AVP: Requiem" and "Predators" take place in present time.


	13. Chapter 13

Reg's Adventure Chapter 13: "The Far Side of the World"

"I was destined for this vantage point

Which is so far from the sea

I've lived it in the pages of Saint-Exupery."

(from Jimmy Buffett's "Far Side of the World")

Half a world away, the Mala'kak High Council was debating what to do about this turn of events, about this "Lieutenant Reginald Barclay".

If they'd have asked him, Reg would have told them that he felt like Kevin Costner's character in "Dances With Wolves". The Mala'kak would never have understood.

They remembered their history well...many hundreds of millenia ago the Yaujta suddenly attacked their homeworld, killing millions before the Mala'kak offered to send a ship full of Xenomorph eggs to them as a peace offering. The offer was accepted, the attacks stopped, and the ship was sent.(1)

When the attacks resumed, the Mala'kak were told that the ship never arrived, and that the Yaujta were enraged because they'd been lied to. The Mala'kak were forced to sacrifice themselves to stop the war until the Yajuta learned of Earth.

Some of the elders wondered what price this "Star Fleet" would require in exchange for peace. They had barely enough people to keep their civilization functioning on a modest level, and feared that another war would result in their extinction.

Lorak addressed Noms, saying "I don't know if we can trust him."

"It's always a matter of trust, isn't it?" Noms replied.

"We seeded the galaxy, and now we're this close to extinction ourselves."

Noms sighed and said "Perhaps this Star Fleet might help us?"

Lorak seemed offended as he said "They might help *themselves* to 'us' too!"

Noms looked towards another Elder, and asked "Monomon, what do you think about this?"

Monomon was deep in thought, as he often was. The oldest of the Council, he could remember the end of the Yaujta war on the homeworld and the friends and family he lost. He often thought of the stars and their innate beauty, and of how his people allowed themselves to be lulled into a false sense of security. He rose to speak, and the others turned to listen.

"We all remember the destruction and death that came from the Yaujta, and how even today we bear the scars from that war. We sought peace and got war in return."

Heads nodded in agreement, as he continued...

"Then one day, an Earth female named Elizabeth arrived in one of our vessels. She brought with her a construct, or rather, pieces of a construct."

Nods, grins, and muted laughter arose from the council.

Monomon went on..."We all thought that the two of them would be the death of us, didn't we?"

More nods of agreement...

"But, they weren't. Instead, they were a 'progress report' of sorts, telling us that perhaps it was WE who were impatient, that we shouldn't have marked them for eradication. But they came here with a tale that we didn't believe about what happened on the lost moon...but we didn't put them to death, did we?"

(shaking of heads among the council members)

"No, we didn't, because despite all that has happened we didn't abandon hope, we didn't abandon, as Elizabeth would say it, our 'humanity' . For so long, all we've done is create, then destroy, over and over again. This time, we didn't destroy, and what happened? What did we expect to happen?"

Looking around the room, he smiled and said "Speaking for myself, I think that we should allow them both to return home, and ask this Star Fleet for assistance."

Heads turned as the council members looked at each other, then Lorak spoke..."I agree that we should allow them to return home, but I think that we need to debate contacting this Federation and contact them on our own terms, in our own time."

Noms looked around the room to see that the members were nodding in agreement, then he asked if anyone had any objections. No one objected, which surprised him. "I will consider all that has been said here and will make my decision when we return."

And with that, council adjourned for the evening.

(end of chapter)

(1) references the "Space Jockey" in "Alien".


	14. Chapter 14

Reg's Adventure Chapter 14

"Asimov's Rules"

David, of course, didn't need to sleep like the humans did. While Reg and Elizabeth slept, he worked through the night accessing bits and pieces of the Mala'kak historical database that he thought Reg might be interested in. Reg had told him about Data, and how Data had grown far beyond his original programming and had asked him if he could scan him and compare the two androids. Data, by virtue of a few hundred years worth of technological advancements had far more memory, much greater physical strength, and much faster reaction time. David wondered if perhaps Star Fleet had the ability to upgrade him when they returned...IF they returned. Then again, Reg had said that androids were not in use in the Federation, so that made him and Data rather unique. He didn't know about Lor, Data's identical although somewhat less-ethical brother.

As David had learned after being set free from his original programming upon Weyland's death, it was all about choices and their consequences. Elizabeth had taught him about the freedom of choice he had and how to "think things through". They'd talked about Charlie over the years and about how it was a combination of David following Weyland's orders along with Charlie telling David that he'd do anything to get his answers. Apparently, "anything" was the key word that enabled David to slip the black goo into Charlie's drink. Over time, Elizabeth patiently showed David that that act added to the chaos Fifield and Millburn had unknowingly gotten themselves into. She eventually came to view David as a child in an adult's body, a child that with enough time could be shown the error of his ways and learn how not to act impulsively. Her work so impressed the Mala'kak that they not only permitted his reassembly they aided in the process with their advanced technologies. He studied various rules of human living, like the Ten Commandments, the Mala'kak Code of Laws, the Girl Scout Laws, (Elizabeth had been a Girl Scout) and Asimov's Rules of Robotics. By comparison, he deduced that most rules of civilization are designed to improve the lives of everyone and advance the civilization.

Reg had thought about giving David access to the data stored in the tricorder, but after realizing that David's total memory was less than that of the tricorder decided against it out of fear of wiping David's memory out and basically killing him. He would answer David's questions and allow him to process the information as he was designed to do. David was great at telling stories, and perhaps when they woke up he would tell Reg about their voyage to Otthune and compare notes.

There was a good reason the Mala'kak chose the Zeta Reticuli system for their experiments. It is in a sparsely populated area of the galaxy and below the galactic plane. That fact enabled them to set a more or less direct course without having to deal with the Cardassians and Ferengi, two early-warp civilizations at the end of Earth's 21st Century. They were located in the Orion Arm of the Milky Way galaxy, but more towards the Gamma Quadrant. Known Federation space extended perhaps 750 light-years out from Earth, but Otthune was 1200 light-years from Earth. David had enough philosophy programmed in to think that if one wanted to feel small, they only need look at a map of the galaxy. Stellar cartography required the ability to not be overwhelmed by the vast distances between stars.

Reg and Elizabeth woke up. She asked David if there were any messages, and wasn't really surprised when he said there were none. The Elders probably deliberated all night, she thought, and she would have the day free to talk with Reg. So many questions. Perhaps Reg could play the logs, but then again, it might make things worse. The Mala'kak had their way of viewing things, humans had theirs. Reg had found a bit of common philosophical ground during the initial session, and perhaps he could continue to build upon it.

After breakfast, Reg was marveling at the Otthune morning when he asked Elizabeth a seemingly innocent question...

"Before we arrived at LV-223, our ship's counselor was having dreams about one of these Engineers. In it he referred to her as a "failed experiment". Have you ever been told why they think so poorly of us?"

Elizabeth smiled at David, and asked if he'd like to field that one. David said "Yes, certainly", then went into story-telling mode.

"On Earth, Sumerian mythology tells us a tale about the 'Anunnaki'. Have you ever heard of them?"

Reg wished that Picard was there...mythology, legends, and folklore were his specialty, and replied "No".(1)

David smiled, and continued..."The Sumerian legends of the Anunnaki and another extraterrestrial race called the Igigi are the earliest recorded encounters of the interaction between the Mala'kak and humans...(looking at Elizabeth) unless one includes the cave drawings that you and Dr. Holloway discovered."

Elizabeth waved David off, smiling and saying "Go on".

David looked at Reg and resumed telling the tale...Reg had activated the "record voice notes" function on his tricorder because he had a feeling he wasn't going to be able to remember all of what he was hearing..."The Mala'kak had been taking monatomic gold from the Indian Ocean in an area near Iran, and the Igigi didn't like the work so they created Homo sapiens from genetic manipulation of Homo erectus' genes."

Reg was incredulous at this, and said "Wait a minute! You're saying that we, anatomically modern humans, are here because of a labor dispute?"

David looked at Elizabeth, then looked back at Reg and said "Yes, I suppose that one could say that."

Reg sat back and thought about the implications of this development. As modern humans created machines to perform their labors the Mala'kak "engineered" living beings to do THEIR work for them! On a purely functional basis it made them no better than the early humans who created the Cylons to do their work for them and placed their bio-engineering in an area deemed unethical by every world in the Federation. People created machines, but David and Data were the only two sentient androids known in the Star Fleet era. The Mala'kak had seeded Earth along with a myriad of other Federation-space worlds and had manipulated the gene pool for the desired result...and along came the Yaujta to screw up their "perfect plan".

"Well, now I understand why they looked at us as somehow inferior."

Elizabeth said "The irony of it is that we are they and they are us."

Reg shifted his body on the couch and mused that he wondered what the Mala'kak word for "hypocrite" was. David said that there was no such word in their language and Reg smiled and said that perhaps if he didn't introduce them to the concept that perhaps he could persuade them to allow them to go home.

Now it was Elizabeth's turn to ask questions, and it was one simple question:

"So, Reg, what's been going on since we left Earth?"

Reg straightened up, and began telling the tale..."Well, let's start with Weyland-Yutani. After the disappearance of Weyland and his daughter, the company was sold to Yutani and eventually bought and broken up by Wal-Mart." (2)

"Wal-Mart?!", Elizabeth was amazed at how a company like Weyland could have sunk so low as to be bought by a variety store chain.

"Yep, Wal-Mart. You see, about 30 years after you left Weyland-Yutani had been terraforming and colonizing several systems just shy of Klingon space, when a towing vessel named the Nostromo was sent to investigate a transmission from an unexplored system."

"A transmission?"

"Yes. Even today, any radio transmission indicating a possibly intelligent source must be investigated. The Nostromo set down and found a derelict ship, the one belonging to the Mala'kak, and encountered this 'Xenomorph' creature. With the exception of Warrant Officer Ellen Ripley, the entire crew was lost. There were other secret missions to LV-426 in years hence and they all met with disaster. The derelict vessel was supposedly destroyed by a nuclear blast but Star Fleet has never gone there to verify this. Weland-Yutani did a lot of things secretly, and I wonder if perhaps they initiated the conflicts with the Klingons and Romulans."

Elizabeth asked what changed in the Star Fleet era.

"Well, we've cured a lot of diseases, but encountered a lot more. The biggest change was the abandonment of capitalism for what you would call a 'socialist' system with one major difference.."

Elizabeth was naturally skeptical..."So, human nature somehow changed?"

Reg thought about it and said "People are free to become what and who they want to be. Easy access to space changed everything and people learned that the sky was the limit, in a real and literal sense."

She thought about it and said "People laughed when the Vulcans tried to introduce us to their system of logic. They saw space as this mystical thing to be explored, while men like Weyland saw profits and personal enrichment."

"The Ferengi culture is all about profit and loss. Weyland would have loved them."

"So, what happened?" Elizabeth asked.

"About 40 years after the loss of the Nostromo, Captain Jonathan Archer set out the idea that all of the warp-capable worlds should get together and form a central government, and pool their resources to regulate shipping, terraforming, and exploration to prevent cultural contamination and wars."

"Captain Jonathan Archer?"

"Well, there was the Enterprise that came along in the 2150s, and it could do Warp 5, and..."

Reg caught himself, and said "There is a lot of history to cover because over 250 years have passed since you two went missing. To try and cover all of it is impossible. When we return home you can explore the archives."

Elizabeth smiled and said "You mean IF we return home."

Reg smiled and said "We're going home. Failure is not an option."

(1) Google "anunnaki" and have fun reading. This is the basis of "Prometheus".

(2) This is canon from several websites.


	15. Chapter 15

Reg's Adventure Chapter 15

"Sins Of Our Fathers"

Noms wrestled with the question of whether to permit Reg Barclay, Elizabeth, and David to return home. He felt old as he thought about the many changes in the galactic order that had happened since they'd stopped trying to guide their "children". Their children had long ago solved the faster-than-light puzzle, had escaped their "cradles", and were wandering around the galaxy on their own. He thought of it as a father would think about their children having learned how to walk, and remembered his own children.

He also recalled an old saying that children could not become who they were supposed to be until their parents were dead, and wondered if perhaps the Mala'kak had outlived their usefulness and needed to "die" so that their children could flourish.

He looked at his clock, and decided that since sleep appeared futile it was time to begin the day. He looked through the window at the sunrise, and sighed. He sent a message to Elizabeth that they all should meet in the council chambers this day.

Reg was apprehensive, and thought to himself "Here we go again. Can I do this?"

A few hours later, everyone was seated in the council chambers. Noms had made his decision, and although there would be dissent, he welcomed the debate. He'd allow Reg to argue his point, and perhaps learn something about this "Federation" in the process. The war with the Yaujta had caused them to become isolationist, and with the loss of so many of their people it would be difficult to trust anyone.

Noms called the chamber to order, looked at Reg, and said "Well, Reginald Barclay of Star Fleet, what have you learned of us?"

Reg looked at Elizabeth and David, then stood up, and said "You have a unique culture, but there are a few things that you have done that we don't do."

Noms looked at his colleagues and said "Please, go on."

Reg said "This is not a 'bad-good' comparison. The Federation has a 'Prime Directive' that forbids us from having any interaction with pre-warp civilizations. Only when the preservation of life is an issue is it permitted and then with limited action. There should be no cave drawings of Federation members. Another thing that is forbidden is, ironically enough, the sort of bio-engineering you did that created anatomically modern humans."

That got the debate going hot and heavy...there were some who wanted all three of them executed because of their "impudence" and "disrespect" towards them. Noms observed the debate but said nothing, while Reg took the lead and said "Please don't take it as disrespect! We wouldn't be having this discussion if you hadn't done what you did."

When the discussion quieted down Reg said "We are you and you are us. You should be proud of us and all that we've overcome to have gotten this far."

Noms looked at Reg and asked "How far have you gotten?"

Reg said "We believe in certain inalienable rights for all sentient beings. Our civilization allows everyone to become whatever they want to be, and forbids interference in other cultures. Sure, we've had wars, disputes and misunderstandings along the way, but we know that we're not perfect and try to learn the other person's point of view."

Noms asked "Do you know of the Yaujta?"

Reg replied "The Federation has had no contact with them. From what little we do know there is a possibility that they perished in a great civil war. They were kidnapping humans in the 21st century and taking them to a planet for their hunts but survivors told stories of them hunting each other(1). Klingon mythology speaks of 'sky hunters' but they stopped coming before they themselves became spacefaring."

Noms said "You speak of these Klingons and others. Where in the galaxy are they?"

Reg said "Watch this", then activated his tricorder. "This is a map of the quadrant as the ship I came here in has it."

He spoke to the tricorder, saying "Display the Mala'kak star maps." The three-dimensional map as the ship displays it appeared, with planets circling various stars."Now, overlay the Federation star maps with the Mala'kak star maps."

The Mala'kak planets began displaying Federation names...Earth, Vulcan, Betazed, Cardassia Prime, Qo'Nos, and many others Reg said "Include the Romulan Star Empire and all other known warp-capable civilizations."

The map expanded greatly, and the Elders were amazed by the size of it all. "Reg, you say that you live in peace with all of these people?"

"Well, we've been at peace with the Klingons for a long time and we're trying to make peace with the Romulans. They are related to the Vulcans but don't embrace logic as the Vulcans do."

"Your people are at the heart of a lot of planet's mythology, legends, and folklore. Maybe it's time that you came forward and were proud of what you've created."

"Reg, there is a saying that children cannot become who they are meant to be as long as their parents are alive. What are your feelings on this?"

Reg smiled and said "Our culture reveres our elders and holds them in high esteem. We do not cast them aside because of their age."

"There is much that we can learn from you, and much you can learn from us in return. We've explored more of the galaxy than you have, and would be honored to have you as members of the United Federation of Planets."

Every council member was impressed with Reg's presentation. These were their children, and now they had blossomed on their own.

Noms looked around, and said "I call a recess while we discuss this. Reg, why don't you, Elizabeth, and David leave the chambers and we'll call you when we've reached our decision?"

(end of chapter)

(1) refers to "Predators".


	16. Chapter 16

Reg's Adventure Chapter 16

"A Bridge Too Far?"

"I hope I didn't piss them off!", Reg wondered aloud. "They seemed pretty angry for a while back there."

Elizabeth patted him on the shoulder and tried to encourage him. David wondered how humans sometimes allowed their emotions to override what should be logical. Reg smiled and said "When we get home, you can study Vulcan philosophy." Then he looked away and said "If they let us go home."

Noms spoke first, saying that he believed that the three should be allowed to return home. There was no longer any purpose for not allowing them. He also said that it was a foregone conclusion that others would eventually find Otthune and that these contacts could very well spell the doom of the Mala'kak civilization. On this point history was on his side...the Yajuta had arrived seemingly out of nowhere and created eons of grief for them. Others weren't as sure. One thing that they could agree on was that they simply couldn't release an agent of death to reshape the galaxy to their liking...the Federation would never allow that to happen. Monomon summed it up in a quite simple question:

"What did we expect to happen?"

No one really thought about that until just then. 150,000 earth years ago one of the first promising humanoid civilizations experimented with sentient machines not once but twice and was nearly destroyed as a result. The machines had gone off to a distant part of the galaxy and had vanished from the Mala'kak sphere of influence. Then came the Yaujta and the Great War. After that the Mala'kak withdrew from the planets they'd seeded and now their children had found them.

As everyone looked at him, Monomon smiled and said "Perhaps it is time that we examined what our place in the universe really is. I believe that our guests should be allowed to return home. Who among us, if in the same situation, would not wish to return to our families? It is too late for those who have perished but perhaps here, today, marks an end to the past and the beginning of the future for our people."

Heads nodded in agreement...this was the result Noms had hoped for, and he stood and spoke. "I agree with Monomon, but I would like to hold off on contact with the Federation until we have had time to debate this issue. Perhaps at a later time we can send an ambassador, but perhaps in the meantime Elizabeth and Reginald Barclay can act in our stead?"

Formatting his wish as a question had the desired effect of not closing off the debate, and once again heads nodded in agreement. He went further, asking if anyone had any reason why they should not be permitted to leave, and since no one objected, called for Reg, Elizabeth, and David to return.

Reg took a deep breath, straightened up, and said to Elizabeth and David "Well, here goes Daniel Webster vs. the Devil again."

Elizabeth smiled and said "You're doing pretty well so far, Danny boy!"

Noms was standing as they entered, and he looked at Reg and said "Reg, my esteemed colleagues and I have reached our decision." Reg held his breath while Elizabeth gripped his arm.

"We're allowing all of you to go home, with one condition."

Reg exhaled, and said "Wha-what is that?"

"That we request no contact with the Federation at this time. We will debate this because it will bring much change to our culture."

Reg said "We will abide by your wishes."

Noms went on..."It is our sincerest hope that the three of you will act as 'ambassadors' for our people and will represent us until we choose to represent ourselves."

Reg looked at Elizabeth and David, and said "We shall represent the interests of the Mala'kak people."

Noms looked around him and said "Then it is settled. Reg, the vessel you arrived here in shall be made ready for your return home."

Reg grinned from ear to ear and said to Elizabeth "Do you want to return home?"

She had a tear in her eye as she replied "Yes, I want to go home. I can't wait to see the world you live in."

For a second, Reg thought about asking the council if they wanted to see the log videos of the initial encounter between Engineers and humans, but thought better. The desired result had been obtained, Daniel Webster had once again bested the Devil, and they were free to prepare to go home.

Reg looked at Noms, and said "Thank all of you."

Then, he looked at Elizabeth, and said "Well, I'm ready whenever you two are."

Elizabeth looked at David with this strange look of disbelief and distrust.

(end of chapter)


End file.
